1962 Dutch Grand Prix
|poletime = 1:32.5 |fastestlap = 1:34.4 |fastestlapdriver = Bruce McLaren |fastestlapnation = NZL |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 5 |winner = Graham Hill |winnernation = GBR |winnerteam = |second = Trevor Taylor |secondnation = GBR |secondteam = |third = Phil Hill |thirdnation = USA |thirdteam = }} The 1962 Dutch Grand Prix, officially known as the X Grote Prijs van Nederland, was the opening round of the 1962 FIA Formula One World Championship, held on the 20th of May 1962. The Dutch Grand Prix of 1962 came just a month after the X Glover Trophy, a non-Championship Formula One race which had ended the career of fan favourite Stirling Moss, a man often cited as the greatest driver never to win the World Championship. After John Surtees claimed a maiden pole position in the new Lola Mk4, it was compatriot and rival Graham Hill who secured his maiden victory. Hill, who was racing the new BRM engine for the first time, benefited from a clutch problem for friend and Team Lotus driver Jim Clark, as well as Surtees' huge accident caused by a wishbone failure. The rest of the podium would be made up of Clark's team mate Trevor Taylor as well as defending World Champion Phil Hill for Ferrari. Background Although 1962 did not see the introduction of new engine rules, the winter did see Climax complete development on their new V8 engine, designed to combat the dominant Ferrari V6 from 1961.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: DUTCH GP, 1962', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2016), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr103.html, (Accessed 19/05/2016) These new FWMV units had already been débuted at the 1961 German Grand Prix, but were delivered to Climax's main customer teams in time for the new Grand Prix season. The Cooper Car Company received only one unit in time for the Dutch Grand Prix, while the numerous Team Lotus built cars in the field would universally be equipped with the new engine. BRM had also joined the engine building party, their first foray into internal combustion being bolted into the back of their new BRM P57 chassis. Team Lotus, meanwhile, had built the Lotus 24 for their customers and second driver Trevor Taylor, while Jim Clark would début the first monocoque design in F1 history, the Lotus 25. Elsewhere, John Surtees and Roy Salvadori would début the new Lola Mk4 in the Netherlands, while Ferrari continued to use the "Shark-nose" 156, the car that had taken five wins in eight races through 1961. The realm of the driver had also seen a shake up over the winter, with many big names moving between the factory backed teams. Phil Hill, defending World Champion, would lead the line for Ferrari, with promising youngsters Giancarlo Baghetti and promoted full time. Those moves forced out Richie Ginther, who moved to BRM alongside Graham Hill in order to replace the newly retired Tony Brooks. BRM had approached Innes Ireland to take over the vacant seat after the Englishman was dropped by Team Lotus, but a gentleman's agreement just the day before BRM's offer saw Ireland transfer his colours to the Privateer UDT Laystall Racing Team.'DRIVERS: INNES IRELAND', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-ireinn.html, (Accessed 31/01/2016) With Ireland forced out, Team Lotus were able to draft in Taylor whom had already raced in Ireland's place at the 1961 Dutch Grand Prix. Elsewhere, Jack Brabham left Cooper to form his own team, severing ties so completely that he would enter a Lotus 24 rather than a Cooper machine for the season opening race. Bruce McLaren stayed to become the team's lead driver, and would be partnered with South African racer Tony Maggs for the new season. Around a month before the race it was announced that Stirling Moss would not compete in the season opener, having been put into a coma. While competing in the X Glover Trophy at Goodwood in April, Moss had crashed a UDT Laystall entered Lotus 18 heavily into an earth bank. News of Moss awakening from the coma would greet the field as they gathered in the Netherlands, but the Brit would experience further complications before he stepped back into a racing car. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: Practice Overview Qualifying A bright couple of days greeted the field for the first World Championship round of the season, although strong winds brought cooler track temperatures. Both days saw headwinds down the long main straight, a fact which would cause problems for less powerful cars. Report were not in best form at Zandvoort in 1962, their 156s essentially last years car, although Phil Hill did manage to take three quarters of a second from his time the year before. With their other two drivers learning the circuit, Hill would ultimately lead the scarlet trio from ninth on the grid, as John Surtees broke the lap record to record a maiden pole position. Graham Hill had initially set the early pace, running within Stirling Moss' record time of 1:33.8 by the end of Friday morning, but a stunning lap from Surtees in the new Lola Mk4, despite initial setup problems, saw the Brit claim pole on Saturday. Joining them on the front row would be Jim Clark, the Scot putting the new Lotus 25 through its paces to go over two seconds quicker than he had a year before. Jack Brabham secured fourth in his customer spec Lotus 24 to beat former team mate Bruce McLaren into fifth, while ex-Team Lotus driver Innes Ireland claimed sixth ahead of the man whom had taken his potential BRM seat in Richie Ginther. Dan Gurney led the Porsche challenge from eighth, while Trevor Taylor completed the top ten. Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: Grid |Giancarlo Baghetti|Jo Bonnier|Carel Godin de Beaufort|Tony Maggs|Masten Gregory|Roy Salvadori|Ben Pon|Jackie Lewis|Wolfgang Seidel|frontrowsize = 3 |secondrowsize = 2 |poleside = r}} Race The shock pole position for John Surtees in the meant many were unsure as to what would during the race. The and Jim Clark's technologically advanced Lotus 25 were arguably the favourites to take victory, but the pace of the Lola Mk4 was a surprise to all. With the first of the major car manufacturers down in eighth in the form of Dan Gurney, and the first in the hands of Phil Hill in ninth, the race seemed destined to go to one of the engined British constructors. Report Off the line, it was Clark whom snatched the lead into the first corner, after damage to Graham Hill's car on the lap to the field saw him remain in second.'THE DUTCH GRAND PRIX', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport Magazine, 12/07/1962), http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1962/12/dutch-grand-prix , (Accessed 26/05/2016) Surtees, meanwhile, fell to fourth in the opening stages, a victim of a stunning start from Dan Gurney, who used an excellent launch to shadow Clark away from the grid. Another good start was made by Phil Hill, up to fifth from his ninth place grid slot, with Innes Ireland besting Bruce McLaren into the first corner. The early stages would see numerous changes for fifth, with Ireland hitting the front of the fifth placed group after problems dropped Phil Hill down the order. McLaren had also got ahead of the American, while Trevor Taylor, sporting a Climax V8 that had been completely rebuilt overnight, was dicing with and Richie Ginther. The leaders, however, continued to pull away, and an incredible early push by Clark saw him pull over 20 seconds clear of the hampered Hill by the end of lap three. There was drama further down on lap three, as Ben Pon fell away from the race after a spin carried him into the gravel, the Dutchman running on his own at the time. His spin was almost mirrored by Rodriguez a lap later, although his pirouette left him in the middle of the charging pack now battling for fourth. With the battle for fourth so tight it seemed inevitable that Rodriguez would be collected, and so it proved as Jack Brabham almost instantly slammed into the right rear of the Ferrari and smashed the front of his Lotus 24. Brabham was out, while Rodriguez took time to free his 156 from the gravel. briefly battles with World Champion Phil Hill before the former's accident.]]Surtees, in the meantime, had slipped back from the leaders, and soon found himself in the sights of Ireland and co. An attempt by Ireland failed, allowing McLaren to snatch fifth, before a quick move into Tarzan saw the New Zealander take fourth away from the Lola. He was soon disappearing into the distance from the group, while Ireland struggled to get by Surtees with Taylor now able to challenge the man whom he had replaced at Team Lotus. Ultimately, Ireland would not be too troubled by Taylor, with the latter spinning and recovering behind Phil Hill, before a scary accident removed Surtees. Having been granted a brief reprieve through Ireland and Taylor's battle, Surtees was charging around the back of the circuit, sweeping past the dunes. Part way through the long sweep back to the start/finish line, the Lola suffered a failure on the top left wishbone, snapping the suspension and drawing the car off the circuit. A brief bounce through gravel saw the Lola slam into the safety fencing lining the edge of the circuit, smashing the rest of the front end, although the crumpled front end served well to protect Surtees from injury. Once Surtees had returned and reported the failure, the UDT Laystall Racing Team opted to withdraw the second car of Roy Salvadori a few laps later. Back with the leaders and it looked as if Clark had pushed his Lotus too hard, for he was now running with a clutch problem and had slipped back in the grips of Graham Hill. Gurney was now in the sights of McLaren as his charge drew in the Porsche, until the silver car suddenly ground to a halt after Gurney's gear lever came away. He managed to get the car to roll away under its own power, and was soon back up to the leaders pace, albeit a few laps down, after a visit to the pits. Clark swung into the pits to have repairs to his clutch on lap 13, leaving Hill clear at the front of the field with McLaren a distant second. Rivals Gurney and Clark were also back in action, rejoining on lap 17 and 20 respectively, while Ginther was finally up to team mate Hill's pace after his engine ran poorly in the opening stages. Phil Hill, meanwhile, now ran in a lonely third, clear of Ireland in fourth while Taylor was closing once again for fifth. Giancarlo Baghetti was having a quiet race in sixth, while Masten Gregory and Tony Maggs battled as the last of the drivers on the lead lap. As race leader Hill approached the quarter distance mark, McLaren ground to a halt with a gearbox failure, leaving the American Hill following the British Hill. By this stage the race had largely settled, although Gurney and Clark were making ground after their lengthy delays. Taylor, meanwhile, was drawing in Ireland once again, the two Brits about to go to battle once more and by half distance Taylor put together a good move through Tarzan to snatch third away from the ex-Lotus driver. With only five drivers on the lead lap, quickly reduced to four as Hill swept past Baghetti in fifth, the race seemed settled. A curious incident for Jackie Lewis, meanwhile, had seen his grind to a stop and refuse to start, prompting the young Brit to walk away from the car and get back to the pits. A few minutes later and Lewis was back with his car, leaning into his cockpit and pressing the start button. The car instantly sprung back to life, and so Lewis climbed back into the suddenly healthy Cooper and rejoined the race, his issue put down to overheating. Clark, meanwhile, was orbiting at the back of the field and Lewis' troubles gave him a chance of at least finishing in the top ten. That hope was almost guarenteed after a sudden pair of gearbox failures for Gurney and Masten Gregory leaving Clark on the edge of the top half of the field. Then, Ireland was climbing out of a shattered Lotus, his car having suffered a brake failure into Tarzan and flipped over the safety fence with a quarter of the race to go. Incredibly, the Brit was unhurt, although confused after his unexpected aerobatics, with much attention on his incident over shadowing other events on circuit. Taylor had steadily closed on the scarlet Ferrari of Phil Hill after taking Ireland, and it was as the ex-Lotus driver tumbled over the fence that the current factory driver made his move. A good run through the first part of the lap gave Taylor momentum over the Ferrari, and that was enough to carry him easily by the World Champion and into second, before setting off after the dominant Graham Hill. The race leader, however, was easing off the pace by this stage, and efficent work by his pit crew meant he knew exactly how much of an advantage he had over Taylor as the race drew to a conclusion. One final incident almost cost Taylor his maiden podium finish, involving two othter drivers fighting in potentially race winning machinery. Tony Maggs and Ginther were most definately the second drivers in their respective teams, and a lap down, their battle was fierce for they were fighting at the lower end of the points. As Taylor approached, he tried to take Ginther into Tarzan, but his attempts to get on the throttle almost threw his car into a spin. Ginther, meanwhile, was too busy fighting with Maggs to allow Taylor by, and slotted in between the two as they charged around the rest of the lap. It was as they came into the long loop back to the pits that the points were decided, as Ginther's engine hiccuped, leaving Taylor to nudge into the back of the BRM. The nudge was enough to crumble the front of the Lotus, although the minor contact meant Taylor could plow on through the final laps, but was enough to push Ginther into the gravel and out. With that, the race was done, with Graham Hill sweeping home to claim a maiden victory with BRM, their first as an engine manufacturer. Taylor remained in a damaged second for a jubilent podium finish, while Phil Hill managed to keep his Ferrari on track despite a major oil leak affecting his pace at the very death of the race. Baghetti finished in a lonely fourth ahead of Maggs, while the late demise of Rodriguez through a spin saw Carel Godin de Beaufort claim a rare points finish in his home race. Results The full results for the are outlined below: ** Salvadori withdrawn after Surtees' accident. Milestones *Maiden pole position for John Surtees. **Also the first (and only) pole position for . *First World Championship victory for Graham Hill. *Second win for as a constructor. **Their first as an engine manufacturer. *First and only podium for Trevor Taylor. *125th podium finish for . *Last of three fastest laps for Bruce McLaren. Standings A maiden victory for Graham Hill saw him leave the Netherlands in the lead of the Championship, his three point advantage courtesy of the only point scoring round of the season so far. Trevor Taylor was a shock second in both the race and the Championship, while the outpaced Ferrari 156 had some fortune in Phil Hill's third place. Giancarlo Baghetti was also on the board by finishing fourth, with Tony Maggs and Carel Godin de Beaufort the only other scorers in the first race of 1962. With a victory in the bag, led the way in the Intercontinental Cup for Manufacturers, the new point scoring rules meaning that they had nine points on the board rather than eight as had previously been awarded to the winning manufacturer. were next, three behind courtesy of Taylor, while started their title defence in third, despite having two point scoring cars. and completed the early standings in the Cup, the latter due to the sixth place finish of the privateer de Beaufort. References Images and Videos: *Sporti, 'File:Surtees at 1962 Dutch Grand Prix.jpg', commons.wikimedia.org, (WikiMedia Commons, 19/12/2012), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Surtees_at_1962_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg, (Accessed 26/05/2016) References: Category:Grand Prix articles Category:Dutch Grand Prix Category:1962 Grands Prix